Where Angels Dare to Trod

[unfallen]

Islington is walking along the ship.  It is a steady pace.  But slow.  If people didn't know better, It would like like It was floating or gliding.  If you run, It will walk.  If you stop, It will continue Its pace.  Never changing, never pausing.  As if by walking, it can change something about this place.

It's garments seem to be made of light itself.  As It goes along, It is humming an ancient tune: The Lyke Wake Dirge (As sung by Benedict Cumberbatch)

And that's the interesting thing about this particular Angel: It seeks neither to offer help nor the counsel of others. It is simply walking.  Perhaps It is measuring the ship, perhaps It is weighing the integrity of the people gathered.  Whatever the reason, It continues on Its journey.  Simply walking....

Comments

[impossibilities]

Grainne was walking along on her way to the arboretum, when she passed by a rather strange man walking along the corridor. Something about him set goosebumps along her arms, a pause, and she turned to look over at him. Was it a man? That was the impression she had, but the clothes were strange, and he was just walking along, and she can't remember why she had the impression of, well, anything.

It felt odd enough, her curiosity grew. He didn't seem like magic. It could have just been the oddness of everything. Tentatively, she sent a tendril of magic merely to have a look.

[unfallen]

Well, it wouldn't be the first time. Depending on how her magic works, she wouldn't learn anything by using it on the Angel. Not that it would bounce off of It like hitting some kind of forcefield, no. The magic would just - disappear? Fade away? Hard to say, does it go through the Angel and continue on forever, or does it get absorbed by the Angel? Possibilities are endless.

[impossibilities]

Alarmed, Grainne blinked. It was rather rude for the most part just to walk up to someone and ask what they were, but that was by modern standards. Her Servant senses also told her nothing, and at least with Gandalf she had picked up something, enough to make her think he was one of the Tuatha de Dannan.

"Excuse me..." She called out, wondering if she weren't poking a rather large boar, but then she had always been a curious woman in life. "It might be a bit impertinent, but are you human?"

[unfallen]

It smiles and chuckles. "No. I am an Angel. A Guardian Angel, to be precise."

It pauses in thought. "Though I can see why you might confuse me for one."

It really can't. But It will play this game for now.

[impossibilities]

She looked quite confused for a moment or two, then "Oh, one of those beings from the Christian and Jewish lore. I asked because most humans do not seem to be a magic vacuum, and I didn't wish to presume... That is rather interesting, I've never met an angel, though I suppose it was inevitable they exist somewhere in the multiverse." It explained why she had been pinged as something was not quite the usual. "Nice to meet you."

[unfallen]

"I am a bit more than simple 'lore'. We have not met yet, though. Not properly. I am Islington. What are you called?"

Because 'who are you' is irrelevant.

[impossibilities]

'Islington' wasn't one of the names of angels she had gleaned before from the Throne of Heroes, but then she hadn't known of many of the heroes and beings she had met before. She had met plenty she did. Each universe seemed to have its own... supernatural background, if that suited. "Grainne O'Brian." Of course, anyone with an inborn lie detector would know at least part of her name is fake.

[unfallen]

Well, if It cared she was being less than honest. Which, for now, the Angel doesn't care. "And where do you come from, Ms. O'Brian?"

Because that question seems to matter here.

[impossibilities]

"Ireland, though I live in London with... some friends." That at least she was sincere about. "Where do angels come from?"

[unfallen]

"Where we come from is of little consequence. It only matters where we are assigned."

It smiles softly. "I take it you mean proper London, or as some call it, 'London Above.' Only so that it is distinguished from 'London Below'. Which is the last city that I watched over."

[impossibilities]

"'London Below?'" The look she gives It is blank. "Do you mean the Mages' Association? Or the London Underground?" She's fairly sure there's nothing like a city called 'London Below' in her world. The Mages would probably know about it.

[unfallen]

"It is below even the Underground. Though we do make use of it for travelling. From time to time."

It considers how much It knows about the other thing that was mentioned.

"That said, we do have our idea of Mages. Though, we give titles based on different abilities."

[impossibilities]

"I am afraid it likely doesn't exist in my world. It would definitely be something people knew about, at least in my circles." She's not perturbed by that though, many universes were different. Her own Servant abilities would have let her sense magic work underground if it wasn't masked. "What kind of being is an angel, if you do not mind? I've heard much, but nothing confirmed."

[unfallen]

"Many have made such a claim about London Below. But it exists where no one remembers to look."

It offers a kindly smile.

"What do you know of angels, it would be easier for me to confirm or deny rumours."

[impossibilities]

"I am old enough I would remember. I was there when Londonium was an small town on the edge of a river, besieged every ten years and rebuilt again." Grainne frowned slightly. What did she remember about angels? There wasn't too much information included with the Throne of Heroes, and the Grail knowledge only covered generics, very few specifics.

"They are guardians of... 'heaven,' and 'Eden.' There are many different types; cherubim, seraphim, and so on. They often act as God's agents when dealing with humanity. There are several archangels, whose names escape me at the moment. And they are supposed to shine with a bright light that strikes fear into the hearts of mortals." That last bit said a little wryly.

[unfallen]

"London Below is on a different plane of existence, you might say. Only those that find themselves there are ever really aware of it."

It chuckles softly, warmly, and it gets louder at the mention of 'bright light that strikes fear into the hearts of mortals.'

"You have heard many legends, but clearly you've never met an angel. You were mostly correct - up to the part of striking fear into the hearts of mortals. While we have that ability, we tend to not use it. I was a guardian of two cities. London Below was the most recent and my first city, Atlantis."

[impossibilities]

"I'm familiar with such pockets of existence." Grainne was a bit wry there as well. "That's true, though I've met many different people and creatures in my time." But here, she paused. "Atlantis? I've heard the name before. The Greeks had a fascinating story about a city named that. Is it the same one?"

[unfallen]

"If it is the one that sank beneath the waves over forty-thousand years ago, then yes."

There is a sadness and longing in Its voice.

[impossibilities]

"It would be." She paused, looking at the angel with curiosity. Angels felt pain and loss then, if what she picked up was anything to go by. That... seemed strangely comforting. "Was it meant to happen?"

[unfallen]

It shrugs. "'Meant' is difficult to define."

It thought they deserved it. It was punished for such thoughts. Yet, the city was still allowed to sink.

[impossibilities]

"Oh, I keep hearing things in the religion being about God's will and plans. I thought perhaps that was one of those kinds of things. Letting it sink." That was one of the more difficult parts to wrap her head about with all things Biblical.

[unfallen]

"Well, that is true. Though, timing is everything. It was allowed to sink, but before its time."

It supposes that ultimately, that is why It was punished. No matter. It paid Its time and now It seeks for a way to take over the whole operation Itself.

[impossibilities]

"A lot of things go before their time." It just made her more curious as to why such things were allowed. "It hardly seems fair."

[unfallen]

"Ah. Fairness. It isn't about what is or isn't fair. And choosing to look at things from that perspective only leads to suffering."

Either your own or someone else's. Point is, someone suffers. It's one of the things It has never understood about how God operated. That whole notion of 'Free Will' was utterly ridiculous.

[impossibilities]

"Only because if you do not roll over and submit to it, it does, surely." Grainne frowned slightly. "If someone is meant to have a certain time to be alive it is not right interrupting it so. Then granting some far longer times to suffer is rather cruel."